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demographic environment

Dominic Wilson

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The demographic environment is one of the elements of the marketing environment and includes such important aspects as population size and growth rates, age and sex profiles, family life‐cycle stages, occupation patterns, levels of education, actuarial health and morbidity projections, etc. Every country produces basic demographic statistics, sometimes on a regional and local basis, most of which are readily available to the marketing analyst. Trends and dramatic shifts in demographic data are vital factors in determining marketing decisions, both to identify opportunities and to anticipate declining demand. An example of this is the postwar “baby boom,” which has combined with trends of improving medical technology and individual affluence to generate a substantial increase in the size and wealth of the “gray market” (i.e., consumers over the age of 50), with a flood of new products and services targeted at this market. The opportunities are evident (e.g., cruise holidays, financial planning services), but there are also waning markets (e.g., funeral savings schemes). See also demographics ; environmental analysis ... log in or subscribe to read full text

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